Musical Weekend

The same weekend I attended my first rock concert with my younger son, my older son invited me to a musical play I knew from my younger years - Jesus Christ Superstar. 

It was put on by "Orpheus," a local amateur theatre company that has been doing musicals since 1906 - 120 years!

The music for this play first came out 9 years before my son was born! He was surprised by how "modern" it still sounded.

This time we were asked not to take photos - so I don't have any - but, from start to finish, it was very well done!

Rock Concert

I don't know if I've ever gone to a rock concert...

But last weekend, my son asked me if I was interested in joining him to hear a band called Journey.

They have been performing for more than 50 years - some musicians leaving and others joining during that time.

The guitarist on the right above is the only original band member left.

It was fun!  A little loud - but fun!

Fun to see the audience  get into it - waving their phones, shining their phone lights like stars...

Lots of visual effects to accompany the music. (They wouldn't have had that possibility when they started out in the 1970's.) At least two camera men were part of the crew. One is visible at the foot of the stage - taking pictures that were flashed on the screen behind the musicians. Lots of action!

They still filled the house - and played non-stop for over two hours! Remarkable - considering two or three of them are senior citizens, like me!

Irish Music - and Dance!

A few evenings ago, Terry and I went to a performance of Irish music and dance here in Ottawa. The dancers were a touring troupe of the National Dance Company of Ireland.

(Glad my older son gave us the tickets!)

It took me back to the years that my daughter studied ballet and tap dance...

She would have really appreciated it!

It was amazing to see the dancers' skill and athleticism!

The dancers were accompanied by a fiddler and a band. The fiddling reminded me of my father's love of music. As a young man in Hay Lakes, he was a (self-taught) fiddler in a band that played at local weddings.

Music has a way of taking me back...

Outdoor Jamming!

Terry and I came across an outdoor music "jam" as we were walking next to the Ottawa River in Point Gatineau, Quebec.

Fiddles, at least one guitar and accordion joined in playing a medley of traditional Québécois folk songs.

Beautiful location - cheerful, foot-stomping music. According to the sign, this is a weekly event on Tuesday evenings in summer.

What a great idea!

Perth Music Festival

Terry loves to attend music festivals - but we haven’t done that for several years now, since before COVID.

So he was happy to head to Perth last weekend with our older son to hear the Leahy family of fiddlers and step dancers. 

The Stewart Park Musical Festival is free - but you have to bring your own chairs.

I decided not to go, as I had an important medical appointment two days later - and I didn’t want to risk catching COVID and having to delay the appointment.

(The things we have to think about these days!)

When my son sent me this photo of the large crowd sitting close together, I was glad I didn’t go!

Come From Away

Terry and I recently attended the musical "Come From Away."

It tells the true story of what happened in Gander, Newfoundland that fateful day we now call 9-11.

Planes slated to land in New York City and other east-coast airports were suddenly re-routed to other places, including a little-used airport in a remote place called Gander, Newfoundland... (a place many of the passengers had never heard of!)

Years ago, Gander airport had been a re-fueling station used by planes crossing the Atlantic. These days, planes carry more fuel, so it's not used as much. But the landing strip is still very large... adequate to hold several dozen planes.

The fears and emotions of the poor passengers stuck on the island for days - until air space is opened again in the USA -  is conveyed well by the music.

I'm glad I came prepared with Kleenex!... It was an emotional story... Definitely a musical well-worth seeing!

Bongo Drums...

Am I nuts?! I ask Terry as I carry a set of  bongo drums from the public library to the car. (They are surprisingly heavy...)

Ever since discovering that our public library lends musical instruments, I've thought about borrowing them... 

When I was young, I wanted to learn to play the bongos, but I never did... Now at my age?!

You're not nuts - just curious, Terry replies. Being curious keeps you young!

Now I can finally try them for three weeks. I'd better find out how they work... You Tube to the rescue!

Our Library Lends Musical Instruments...

Whenever I go to our public library to pick up a book...

I stand at this display... and wonder if I should sometime borrow a musical instrument...

I've borrowed movies, CD's and DVD's as well as books...

Why not a musical instrument?!

They look so inviting!

I have two ukuleles at home...

I think a mandolin or a banjo would be difficult to learn on my own.

But I've always been curious about bongo drums!

I think that borrowing instruments - for free - at a public library is a wonderful idea!

Delighted! And Surprised!

I recently came across an article about a best-selling music CD - featuring Christmas music sung by a group of young nuns from Ann Arbor, Michigan...

I ordered it... It's lovely! The voices remind me of the boys' choir my daughter and I heard daily while attending a conference at Canterbury Cathedral in England.

The nuns in the picture accompanying the newspaper article look young...

According to the article, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, is a religious order only 20 years old - but it is growing. It began with 4 sisters and now has 130.

Many religious orders are dwindling. To find one that is young and growing is a happy surprise!

Kingston's "Limestone City Blues Festival 2017"

One of Terry's favorite musical events of the year is the Kingston Blues Festival, a four-day outdoor event held in August.

We have attended a number of times...

A $15-pass gets you into the feature evening events, but the many daytime performances held in the city park are free.

Musicians come from all over. (I was going to write "all over Canada and the USA, but there was a Cuban harmonica player and his band there this year...)

This year I was amazed at the outstanding talent of several young Canadian performers, who have won awards in the USA as well: Spencer MacKenzie, Angelique Francis (from Ottawa!) - as well as as Blackburn (from Toronto) and Dawn Tyler Watson (from Montreal).

I didn't realize that blues was so popular in Canada - especially with the young.

The Limestone City Blues Festival is a family friendly event, drawing young and old...

We usually sit in metal chairs or grandstand seats set up for the event - but when I see people lounging in lawn chairs (or children dozing on blankets) - I wonder if we shouldn't bring along our own seating next year!

Record Players Are Back?!!

I did a double take recently when I was out shopping...

This looks a lot like the record players that I thought were obsolete!

It seems to play regular vinyl records... I didn't know they even sold them anymore!

We still have all of ours - gathering dust in the corner... (A good example of why nothing should ever be thrown out!!)

New Uke

I wasn't playing my green ukulele much over the winter, so I loaned it to my daughter. But now that summer is here, I've had the urge to play it again! What to do?!

I decided to buy another smaller, less expensive one online - to see how it would compare to the other one. One advantage is that it would be more portable, being smaller.

When it arrived in the mail, I had to tune it myself. (The one I got in the store was already tuned when I got it.)

I was disappointed to find that it had plastic strings. (My other ukulele has metal ones.) Would the plastic - "nylon" - ones be easy to tune? Would they hold their tune long? Even scarier, would they snap if I pulled them too tight?!

The first evening was one of gradually testing their flexibility. Eventually I managed to tune it, guided by a battery operated tuner.

Then I got out some of the music I used to play - and had fun! I'll definitely have to get back to playing a bit every day!

A few days later, it's out of tune again- and I can't seem to fix it...

(Time to go shopping for some better strings?!)

Preparing For the Bi-Monthly Ukulele Jam for Beginners

Twice a month the BUG (Bytown Ukulele Group) holds singalongs (and play-alongs) for novice ukulele players, like me.

A few days before the jam, an email arrives listing the songs we will be playing - my signal to begin practicing. Often we are only given the chords and strum pattern. In that case, I try to find the words online - especially if I don't know the song.

I also try to listen to a ukulele version of the song on You Tube. This time one was provided.

Occasionally the words and chords are provided in a format I can print up.

There never seems to be enough time to practice! But never mind! The first time I attended, a ukulele player sitting nearby told me he simply pretends to play if the chords are too difficult or the song is too fast!

Nobody notices. All are too busy trying to keep up themselves!

Jamming - a fun way to learn!

Ukulele Update

Playing the ukulele is one of my more recent interests. A free introductory lesson in Hawaii last winter hooked me in! Who'd have known it was so much fun to play?!

In April (back home) I bought an inexpensive ukulele and had a few more classes. I've also learned a bit more from instructional You Tube videos... (There are a lot online.)

I haven't found time to take any more classes, but I do attend a twice-monthly jam session for beginners whenever possible - held in the basement of a downtown pub.

Not sure what my next step will be... but in the meantime, I've bought some music books, a ukulele stand and a neck strap to help hold my uke stable when I'm switching chords...

Is ukulele music the new rock and roll?!! one of my sons wondered when I told him about my latest passion.

He did some research...and discovered that the ukulele has quietly been making a comeback. Ukulele sales aren't currently growing in Canada, but they are holding their own. His article "Is the Ukulele really, truly, honestly here to stay this time?" summarizes his findings.

Is the ukulele a toy or a serious musical instrument? 

I think it's a little of both! That's what makes it so much fun to play! As instruments go, it's not expensive. And it's not that hard to learn. But the sounds it can produce are amazing, especially if you're as skilled as this Ted Talk musician!

(And to think that if I hadn't gone to that free lesson in Hawaii last winter, I probably wouldn't have known any of this!)

My Mother's Music Books

My parents both loved music - and laughter. They enjoyed reading the humor sections of the Reader's Digest (a magazine they subscribed to).

And they collected song books with their "old favorite" songs.

As I sort through my mother's things, I find some dating back to 1967 (Canada's Centennial) and earlier.

The oldest is this Silver Book of Songs for all grades. It was published in 1938 - the year my mother attended "Normal School" (which we now call Teachers' College) to train to become a teacher. Did she take it with her when she packed her trunk and headed up north to the Peace River country to teach in a one-room country school in Preston Lake?

I wouldn't be surprised if it was from back then!

Singing Again

Music was always part of my parents' life, so it was natural for them to encourage me - as a child - to sing in a children's choir at church. Since then, I've done very little singing. My mother still loves to sing - and, at 95, her voice is stronger than mine. In fact, her favorite nursing home activities are exercise classes and sing-alongs, which fortunately occur almost daily.

After reading somewhere that singing keeps people young, I wondered if I shouldn't join a choir and begin to sing again. But I never did - no time! 

However, the ukulele classes I started four weeks ago have me singing again! As my ukulele instructor reminded us in our group lesson, ukuleles play chords - we have to sing the melody.

In the short time I've been doing classes, I've developed a repertoire of a dozen or more songs. Fortunately several are favorites of my son who lives in Toronto. A few evenings ago, we were singing together on Facetime - a skype-like program - as I was demonstrating my progress in ukulele playing...

Unfortunately, however, today is my last class for this session, and I don't plan to sign up for the next one. (Life gets busy in summer!)

You can't quit now, my son said sadly. You're just starting to get it.

I plan to begin again in fall, I assured him... And in the meantime, I plan to keep playing - and singing - every day!

Ukulele Lessons

I started ukulele lessons this past week... together with a dozen adult beginners. (A few came with friends, including a mother-daughter pair and a father-daughter duo.)

Most said they had friends who played ukuleles - and they'd heard it was easy to learn. A few mentioned wanting to learn after someone pulled out a ukulele at a party and led in an old-fashioned singalong.

Some had been inspired by this Hawaiian ukulele player's rendition of "Over the Rainbow."

I'm not sure exactly what drew me in to start. That very first free lesson in Hawaii definitely did it. It was fun. Now I'm looking forward to playing this very portable instrument... so unlike the piano, which is too big to take anywhere!

I've been wanting to learn something new in the musical vein. Ukuleles play only chords, so part of playing involves singing.

Haven't done that much in years... but now I'm practicing daily! 

Ukulele Lessons

Travel is always an educational experience!

In addition to learning by simply being there, my daughter and I took two free workshops while in Hawaii - a lei making one...











And an introductory group lesson in playing the ukulele... (an instrument brought to Hawaii by the Portuguese). The Hawaiians embraced it, giving it the name "jumping flea" - which is what "ukulele" means in Hawaiian.

The ukulele class was very popular. We were lucky to get in!

After the class, my daughter and I were so taken with the ukulele that we considered buying one there. We didn't, not knowing if we could fit it into our bags!

But as soon as I got home, I bought one here and signed up for a few group lessons. By the time I have my first one, I may already know a few songs - thanks to You Tube tutorials, like this one!

Are Vinyl Records Making a Comeback?!

Among my mother's things, I came across these spools from my father's 8 mm movie films. (He used to splice the smaller 5 minute films together onto bigger reels.)

To toss or to keep?

It's very likely I'll never need film spools again... But you never know!

Just when I thought that vinyl records were becoming obsolete, they may be making a comeback.

In fact, here is a record we were given for Christmas.

We haven't played it yet... I wonder: Is it a children's record?

If so, are record players for children making a comeback, too?!

(Terry would never let a child use this one!)